Prince In Russia’s Preliminary Squad

Sparta&K M.R. Vidnoje's Epiphanny Prince and not Becky Hammon is in Russia's preliminary squad for the EuroBasket Women.

Prince, a 23-year-old combo guard, averaged 16.6 points per game this season for a surprising Sparta&K side that reached the EuroLeague Women title game in Ekaterinburg.

The New York-born star will not be with the 18-strong squad on Tuesday when they begin their preparations at a training camp in Cyprus but like national team captain Maria Stepanova of UMMC Ekaterinburg will join the group later in the preparations.

Hammon is the American-born playmaker who has been with the national team since the 2008 Olympics in China.

She had her contract terminated during the campaign by Nadezhda Orenburg.

There are veterans Irina Osipova, Ilona Korstin, Svetlana Abrosimova and Olga Arteshina - all members of last year's team that was upset by Belarus in the Quarter-Finals of the 2010 FIBA World Championship for Women - in the squad.

The Russians will have workouts in Cyprus from May 10 until May 17 before returning to Russia to train for eight days in Novogorsk.

Russia will take part in a warm-up tournament in the Czech Republic from May 27-29 against the Czechs, Latvia and Poland and then return to Novogorsk for another week-long camp.

Boris Sokolovskiy's squad will fly to France for another friendly tournament to take on Belarus, Canada and the French - the defending EuroBasket Women champions - and then travel to Novogorsk for three more days (June 14-16) before leaving for the EuroBasket Women in Poland.

The Russians will be in Group A with Turkey, Slovakia and Lithuania, with the tournament tipping off on June 18.